Life in High School a Gravity Falls Fanfiction
by abbhorase
Summary: a coming of age story with somewhat major themes of the twin's bond, adventure, and an understanding of individuality and separation. the twin's are in high school, new people, new classes, you get the idea. **on hiatus**
1. Chapter 1

"Dipper."

The boy mumbled something before turning deeper into his pillow.

"Dipper, wake up!" The brown haired girl said, a little more urgently this time. Again, Dipper barely responded. The girl, Mabel looked out of the nearest window, the one separating Dipper's bed from her's, to see the growing light of the sun. Her eyes flicked back to the sleeping Dipper then down to his bedframe as a devious idea came to her mind.

He was awoken by what Dipper could only assume was a very serious event, one that he could gather from the violent shaking beneath him.

"EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAAKE! AAAHHHHHH!" Screamed Mabel, looking up from the side of Dippers bed. With a scream, Dipper jumped out of bed and tried running for, his socks slipping several times on the smooth wood floor, in a mad dash for the door. He was at the handle, gasping for air, when he heard his sister's chortle behind him. The stark lack of shaking didn't do much for him either.

"Mabel!" Dipper yelled, looking up from his panting. "Mabel, that wasn't funny."

"Yes it was." Mabel said, her laugh dying down. "See, look at how funny you are!" it was at that moment that Dipper saw the camera perched in her hands and the instant picture drying on the floor below it. Mabel bent to pick it up before walking over to Dipper who was, by some miracle, still panting.

"Awww, look at those legs go." Mabel said, the picture between the two of them. There was a look of obvious terror on his face in the blur of the picture, back hunched and arm's slightly outstretched in preparation for the imminent doorknob.

"That is SOOO going in the scrapbook." Mabel said, walking over to the glitter encrusted book she kept under her bed, just within arms reach if she ever got lonely. She opened to the brown maple leaf she had used to a bookmark, pulled a tube of glue from her nightstand and stuck the picture onto its page. "There we are Mr. Picture. I will bedazzle you later." She said, coloring a word on the page

With a disdainful sigh preceding it, Dipper asked, "Mabel, why did you have to wake me up?"

"Because the clock isn't slowing down." She said, holding up the digital clock she kept next to her bed. Through a figurative wall of stickers and glitter it read out 6:50.

"And... don't we have to leave at 7?" Dipper asked.

Mabel nodded as a look of horror spread Dipper's face. He couldn't have left faster unless there actually had been an earthquake for him to run from in his mad dash for the bathroom.

Mabel couldn't help but chuckle. And with Dipper gone, she herself could get ready for one of the more important days of her life. After the day she met waddles, of course.

"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh." Dipper repeated to himself, attempting to comb his hair and brush his teeth at the same time. It was going surprisingly well, with what Dipper estimated to be only 10% of his toothpaste ending up in his hair. The way Dipper figured it, he had 10 minutes to make himself presentable to the people he had 'known' and 'loved' before the summer started. Hands, scrub faster, comb faster! There's a day to conquer! A new world to explore! And, as much as he didn't enjoy the idea, no new mysteries to deal with. His pace slowed as Dipper contemplated his time in Gravity Falls, the crazy town with crazier people in it who had helped him through the literal apocalypse. From the resident chair he had prepared with cloths for the day Dipper picked up a soft brown winter hat, a smile not so subtly scrawling it way across his face. In the bliss of his own memories Dipper closed his eyes, hugging the hat to his chest.

"Hey Dip!" Called Mabel from outside the bathroom door.

"Leaving." Was his response, slipping the hat on before exiting the room.

"The room's all yours." His sister said, walking into the bathroom with one of her usual brightly colored sweaters on. Dipper thought he heard his sister chuckle when she saw the hat atop his head, not the kind stemming from comedy, but a more mischievous kind.

"Thanks." it didn't take him long to dress and get his bag ready. His backpack felt…strangely empty without his journal. A part of him was thankful that they wouldn't need them at their new school …with new people…new awesome people ….

"Hey!" Called Mabel from the doorway.

"W-wha...?" Dipper said, pulled out of his daze.

"You know the sidewalk is more interesting than the ceiling?" Mabel joked, entering the room and pulling on her backpack.

"Really?" Dipper decided to play along.

"You wanna see?"

"Absolutely I do!"

"Then come on!" Mabel beckoned, running out the door and down the stairs. The first day of the rest of their young lives awaited them.


	2. Chapter 2

"I can confirm that the sidewalk is indeed more interesting than the ceiling." Dipper said, kneeling down at the sidewalk for a closer look.

"See? I'm always right." Was Mabel's response. Dipper raised his head to respond to his twin's comment, only to see that she had moved on. "Now come on, silly. We're gonna be late!"

"Coming!" Dipper said, running to catch up. It didn't take him long to catch up to Mabel. _Should I ask anything_ Dipper thought, contemplating saying something to his twin. _Is it too soon?_ It took several second after that for him to finally say,

"Hey, Mabel?" he didn't have to wait for her response.

"Yeah Dipper?" She looked at her brother with a smile.

"So... Are you gonna miss being a Mystery Twin?"

"Well, yeah." was Mabel's reply. "Why are you asking?"

"Well … It just looks like-"

"Dipper, without the mystery twins, think about how much of my scrapbook would be here right now." Mabel said, turning around and walking backwards through it. She started digging around her backpack as Dipper started to respond.

"It wouldn't be there." Dipper replied without needing to think.

"And contestant number one is corrrrect!" Mabel joked, pulling her scrapbook out and opening to a random page.

"Everything interesting that happened over the summer was because of Gravity Falls." Dipper said, looking at the page his sister had opened up to. "And everything about our summer was a result of the journals…" Dipper trailed off as melancholy covered his once happy expression.

"The journals..." Dipper said again. He had started to slow down and look at the ground, almost in shame. Mabel took the initiative to try and help her brother.

"Don't let the frown stay right-side up." Mabel said, slowing down further and turning herself to be at Dippers side. "There was nothing you could have done. Bill did what bill did best, and there's nothing that could have been done to change that. Besides where's moping around about it going to get you?" Dipper's twin was twirling ahead of him, climbing a small hill in the process before stopping near its summit.

"I guess..." Dipper said, unsure of himself. He couldn't see beyond the summit of the hill at whatever Mabel was looking at.

"Well I have a question for you." Mabel said, looking out beyond the hill.

"Yeah Mabel?" Dipper, curious as he was, looked at his sister expectantly.

"Do you think high school is as bad as Wendy said it was?" Dipper turned to look where Mabel was looking to see the magnificent high school, students pouring in from all directions. From behind the pair a large boy who must have been at least a junior pushed forward from between them. His face was that of a cow somehow knowing of it's own demise in a slaughterhouse.

"I don't know." Dipper said sarcastically. "You know how teenagers have a habit of exaggerating." After his last statement Dipper took a moment to contemplate something.

"Wendy never came across like that." Mabel said, a smile creeping across her lips when she looked up at Dipper's hat. "Not to me at least"

"You're not alone." Dipper said, taking of his gifted hat. "She was always honest...and straightforward...almost brutally so..." he said it with an earnest smile, fingering at a slip of folded paper he had in a broken seam. He started walking forward as he held the hat just a bit closer.

"Uh oh!" Mabel taunted, walking backwards to match Dipper's speed. "Sound like _someone_ can't let go _."_

"Well how can I?" Dipper retorted, putting Wendy's hat back on. "And can I just ask why we chose to walk the long way? We've got what, 5 minutes to get there and NOT be late?"

"Because I wanted to look at the high school on the way. It's not the long way, its the scenic route!" Mabel said, raising her arms to the world. "Though with the time we have, it _MIIIGHT_ not have been the best option."

"Far from idea, that's for sure. Race you there!" Dipper said, breaking into a run for the middle school down the road from the high school.

"Oh you're on, big boy!" Mabel said, her words followed by a laugh.

Truth be told, the middle school was not far at all past the high school. It didn't take long, but at the same time it took long enough.

"Ha!" Mabel said, touching the side of the building. "I always knew I was the better twin." There was a smug look on her face despite her heavy breathing when Dipper touched the side several seconds later, panting from the exertion.

"*pant* *pant* I thought you were happy *pant* *pant* with the height advantage." Dipper's hands were on his knees as he gasped for air. Through his heavy breathing, he stood up, looked around the seemingly desolate area, and asked "Hey, where is everyone?" Mabel took a moment to answer.

"I... guess they're inside. We should probably hurry up."

"Probably."

The two hurried inside to the sound of first-day announcement type things echoing down the halls. The first living person they saw was an older woman, probably in her early 50's, standing at a corner for late starters such as themselves.

"Down the hall and to your right. You should really have gotten here sooner, you know."

"Thanks!" Was Mabel's response, running with her brother down the hall.

"And there's no running in the halls, thank you!" called the teacher back at them.

* * *

If you were to ask my honest opinion, this is where the magic ends. This is where the diminishing return begins, where more work must be used for the same result. Have a good day.


	3. Chapter 3

"So whats your first hour?" Dipper asked, looking and silently praying at his schedule. The pair was walking casually down the hall away from Student Services.

"History." Mabel replied. She looked up at him with hope saturating her smile.

"Math." Dipper said with a sigh. His back had visibly slouched

"Then English, study hall," she squinted at her paper in misunderstanding. "This weird economics class mom made me take, social studies -

"5th hour social studies?" Dipper asked, perking back up and looking at his schedule. "With Sens?" Mabel nodded with satisfaction.

"Then gym with..." She gave up on the name after a few seconds, during which time Dipper checked his schedule for a Lovecraftian name.

Thankfully it came up 6th.

"6th hour gym with an unpronounceably named gym teacher? Same here!" there was genuine joy in his voice to know that he would be together with his sister. It was short-lived, as he looked back down at his paper and was compelled to ask, "Hey, what house are you in?"

"A. how about you?"

Dipper sighed again and closed his eyes. "B." was all he could say. _Last chance here, boy._ Dipper thought to himself. "Now please tell my your in-"

"B lunch?" Mabel replied. Dipper's eyes widened and a smile grew, looking at his sister with joy and a short bout of laughter. Their embrace was warm but sadly cut short as, opening his eyes after having closed them in their embrace, his eyes caught an overweight teacher glaring at them from a previously unseen doorway.

"Mabel – onlookers." Dipper said, pushing his sister away and motioning towards the source of his discomfort.

"Oh. Sorry." Mabel said embarassed, quickly turning her head to see the blubber man. Their classes dictated them to travel in opposite directions after that point and it was only luck that had let them travel that far together.

"See you 5th hour!" Mabel spoke more quietly than before, waving to Dipper in her stride. He turned around and waved back with a smile.

It was part of her philosophy that every important moment requires something to remember it by, so Mabel took the opportunity and pulled her camera from a nearby pocket on her backpack. It was a quick sight and click, almost thoughtless, but the damage was done. In the moment the picture fell from the dispensary, the oppressive teacher from earlier lunged from it's door frame perch and snatched the camera from Mabel's hands.

"I thought the strict ban on photography was made abundantly clear during orientation." The mass of blubber said. "I'll be keeping this."

"Give it back! Come on!" Mabel said, leaping for the machine only to have it lifted out of her reach by shaking arms.

"You can have it back at the end of the week and after you have completed form 3A in student services. Now run to your class before I need to drag you there." The figure turned itself and walked away, tight suit squeaking with every step of it's rapid stride

"End of the week?" Mabel said in disbelief. Her once wide eyes drooped in sadness, only to see the printed picture developing on the floor. Her backpack slung off as she crouched, picking up the photo and quietly yelling, "You did this! You did this to me!" before shoving it into a once full pocket.

For a moment her mind drifted away from anger, remembering that she didn't remember the layout of the place around her. It returned when she actually started to search for a map.

"Oh where are you you stupid little-" Mabel babbled, searching her bag for anything with a degree of resemblance to a school map.

"There you are!" she said, pulling a sheet of paper out from its place sandwiched between books. "You didn't need to hide from me!" If anyone else had been around, they would have thought her insane in talking hatefully to a sheet of paper.

* * *

I swear to god this chapter is going to be the death of me if only because of the number of times I tried and failed to make a thing with survailence cameras work. A big thank you to my dear old dad for reading through my story and giving me pointers.


	4. Chapter 4

The only successful way to describe Mabel's history class is that it was led by that _one_ teacher; no one liked her for her switches between being pleasant to everyone and hating the ground they walked on.

"Okay, class. Now that everyone's here, maybe we can begin our introductions." The teacher said through chair-squeaks. "You may call me Ms. Cantaloupe, and that will be the only way you shall address me. Not Mr. C, not Ms. Can't." She looked at the closest desk in the row.

"You there!" she said, pointing at the confused child. "What is your name and something interesting about your summer?!" the child rose.

"Uhhh...hi. My name is...uhhh...Butch...?"

"Okay, Butch. Now tell us what you did over the summer." Ms. C said, writing something down on a clipboard.

"I...uh...worked out a lot..." Butch said, searching the room for any response other than the occasional cruel snicker.

Mabel refrained from the herd's mentality, choosing instead the path of comfort. By some chance, the only open seats were those directly adjacent to those of Butch (though she had no idea why). Maybe it was like that king piece in chess, where no one else could get within a square of him without facing death. Yeah, that was it! He did seem...awfully nervous, anyhow. Mabel did the logical thing and pat Butch on the back. To comfort him. The smile he returned didn't bode well for the frequency he smiled. It deepened her sadness.

"Thank you, Butch." Ms. Cantaloupe said, finishing her thought on paper. "Now, since you arrived late, you can go, young lady!" She pointed a green pen at Mabel with much enthusiasm and distaste.

"Hi." Mabel said, standing from her chair with less enthusiasm than was normal for her. "My name is Mabel of Dipper and Mabel Pines-"

"Hmm, hmm yes." Ms. C cut her off, furiously scrawling across the clipboard. "And what fun thing did you do over the summer?"

She was annoyed, but nonetheless continued "Mostly antagonist my brother." She was eager to sit back down so the person the class new would be closer to her cheerful self, her true self.

"Okay Mabel, you may sit down." The teacher said. Her next words, and near every word after that, was lost to Mabel, thinking about her stolen gift.

She had her head down thinking about it for the next 20 minutes of class. As much as Mabel would have liked to know her peers, she couldn't focus on them.

"I'm sad to say that we've come to the end of the hour, class. That will be all for today." Ms. C said with a drop of sap. She took a stack of papers from among the sea of others on her desk. "Though I do need you to read this syllabus over and get signed by your parents."

Mabel took the sheet and stuffed it somewhere among her glitter pens. She took a moment to look over at Butch to see him trying to find an unripped pocket in his bag.

She planted her chin back on crossed arms and waited for the bell to ring.

On Dipper's end things weren't much better. His math room, while clean and up to date, had the artificial feeling of a long word that someone thought made them sound smart. The teacher, Mr. Metternich, was nearing the end of his natural life with a bald head that he hid remarkably well with a brown leather hat.

His assistant was the counterpart; Young, spry, fresh our of collage and ready to teach!

Introductions went about the same way as Mabel's. Everyone introduced themselves going down the rows from the left all the way to the right.

"You there." The old man said. He had a bit of vitality left, surprisingly enough. It didn't sound like dust escaping from a leaking balloon as Dipper had half expected. "You!"

"I'm sorry – what?" Dipper said with surprise. Evidently he had dozed off again.

"Stand up and tell us about yourself."

"O-kay." Dipper said in tune with his movement upwards. "My name is Dipper Pines and if any of you meet Mabel Pines, she is my twin."

"Rather anticlimactic, don't you think?" The assistant whispered to Metternich after Dipper had sat down.

Something told him Mabel was down as he never felt like this on a day so exiting. For the next 40 seconds all Dipper did was lay his head on the desk and toy with Wendy's gifted hat.

Until someone strange came up.

Maybe it was the volume, the proximity, or some other force compelling him to pay attention, but when the student next to him stood, Dipper listened.

"Hello to all of you." The boy said, looking around at the tired class. "And good to see so few familiar faces. I don't expect any of you to remember me, so I will tell you my name to be Caesar."

The only thing separating Caesar from the painfully stereotypical surfer dude look was a set of deep sunken eyes and an intelligent, almost (but not quite) condescending tone. His smile was that perfectly suspicious mix of _I know whats going on_ and _just as planned_. He looked at Dipper with it as he sat down, waiting for their teacher to resume. Dipper turned his eyes away, looking at the front of the room with arms still crossed and cradling his head.

"Meet me at lunch tomorrow at table 6. You'll know why." Caesar whispered to Dipper.

Almost everything else after that mirrored the twins experience of introductions and syllabus distribution.

* * *

For the record, OC's are not my favorite thing in a fanfiction if only because they are done incorrectly so often. Then again, I'm a renown hypocrite, so only time will tell if I did Caesar right. Let me know your early thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

"So how's your day been?" Dipper asked Mabel, tired from boredom.

"Terrible." she said. She had her sweater off and wrapped around her waist.

"I'm gonna guess..."Dipper started, staring at his compatriot, "That your angry because-"

"They took my camera!" Mabel burst out unhappily. "I took a picture of you leaving when this tall...staff member came out of nowhere."

"And what, he took it?" Dipper said.

"They told me photography was strictly banned on school grounds."

Dipper was curious now. "How long did you lose it for?"

"The rest of the week."

"Oh no."

"And behind a paper wall."

"This day Just keep's getting better and better." Dipper said, looking towards the center of the classroom. In unison they assumed a look of exhaustion and boredom.

Nothing changed in that hour from their previous hours. The teacher seemed nice, if not a bit off, and introductions were boring if only because no one did anything of even marginal interest.

And somehow gym was even less interesting.

No one brought their gym cloths, no one ever did on the first day. Their teacher, Mr. Grun-something, seemed good enough, not like the aging body builder leading the other third of class or the veritable land whale the other third was stuck with. Attendance, warm-up, and a syllabus in that order to give the class a feel for what was to come.

Can we just say that it was a first day?

"Well that was a waste of time." Dipper said, looking at Mabel quickly before back ahead of him. "Four hours of my life I will never get back."

"At least you ended the day with more than you started with." Mabel retorted. She was genuinely annoyed with Dipper's self interest. "I lost my camera. My one and only..." Her eyes were moistening.

"Why can she just buy another one?" Someone from behind them yelled.

"Shut up." Dipper shouted back, turning around in his step to glare at the speaker. Whoever it was shrugged and turned off the path.

"Mabel," Dipper said, putting his arm around her sadly less than fluffy shoulders. "Mabel, I'm sorry your camera got taken away. If there's anything I can do-"

"It's not your fault." Mabel said. She was looking down through her tears and something told Dipper she was depending on his guidance. "There was nothing you could have done."

It took Dipper a minute to think of something to say that might defuse the situation.

"Tell you what." Dipper said, pulling ahead of Mabel and spinning to talk face to face. "We've had a long day, why don't we just go home, pop in a movie, and pillage the ice cream cache in the night."

She looked up with those sad puppy-dog eyes "I could go for some ice cream."

"There she is! There's the girl I know and love!" Dipper said, rubbing his sisters hair. He rolled around the idea that this was the first time he had seen Mabel smile in almost two hours.

"Oh stop!" Mabel said, giggling as she pushed her brother away. "Come on! There's ice cream in the house!" the sound of giggling from Mabel and breathing from Dipper was all that was heard from the two in the minute that followed. It's a mystery how their walk home turned into a race, but neither one complained.

"Boom! Ha ha." Mabel cried triumphantly, pulling the door open to the smell of kung pow chicken. In the time she stood and waited for Dipper to catch up (which was, surprisingly enough for the both of them, not even 5 seconds), Mabel's smile had faded. "Okay. Now I'm sad."

"Then let's get something in you." Dipper said, pulling her inside. Maybe suppressing his heavy breathing wasn't the best idea, but he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Takeout's on the table." Called their father from his office. "I'll be leaving in a few minutes."

"Thanks dad." Called one and "Where's Mom?" The other.

"I work late tonight." their father answered. "And your mother comes home at 3. AM. Try to get to bet at a reasonable hour."

Mabel took her kung pow and rice into the living room. Dipper's leather coat-clad father, leaving again, almost escaped his sight before asking "Hey, can I get you to sigh a few things?"

"I've been having you forge my signature for longer than I can remember. as long as I don't get a call from the school, you have my permission do it yourself." His father responded, stopped at the door. Then he was gone.

* * *

My latent post is a direct result of Dark Souls' call for me. The changes to the twins' father's dialogue is a direct result of some over-the-phone discussion with my father. Thanks, Dad :)


	6. Chapter 6

It was good to see Mabel smile again, but at what cost?

They spent the next hour watching _Dream Boys High_ and, much to Dipper's dismay, it was even worse than the last time he watched it. He wasn't ashamed to be in the other room for more than half of it's runtime with the phrase "Keep watching. I'm just gonna get some more popcorn." Or the like.

"It's...not as good as I remember it." Mabel said, the smile fading from her face. It was harder then expected for Dipper to tell what she was dissapointed with.

"There's always other movies." Dipper said, looking through a book case full of them. Of course it was meticulously organized, save for a stray tape on the bottom shelf. He was examining the case when the sound of socks against hard floor stopped for carpeted floor.

"what'cha lookin' at?" Mabel asked, her head stopping while her body walked on in an attempt to observe her brother's choice. In a moment requiring fast action, brother caught sister when she leaned too far. The tape falling to the floor when his action required both hands, quickly pushing her back onto her feet.

"An old movie." Dipper said, picking the tape up and flipping it over with his free hand. "I'm hesitant to watch it 'cause I...I just don't know if you'll like it." Mabel stumbled back into her chair while Dipper put down the case. "It's one of my nerd movies. Never mind, I-I'll look for something else, something you might like-"

"Dipper, what do you want to watch?" Mabel asked, sitting up in her chair. She utilized both armrests in her pose.

"You mean it?" Dipper asked, looking around to her slowly and picking up the case. "I thought you hated my nerd movies."

"Nahhh." Mabel said, waving her arm dismissively. "I don't hate them. I just haven't seen that many. Tell me," hands folded on her lap, "what is this movie called?"

"Well..." Dipper said, waving the copy in his hand. "It's called _1984_. It's based on a book you never wanted to read."

"Hmmm." Mabel pondered with utmost poise. "And you think you'll like it?"

"Then why haven't you put it in yet?" Mabel asked. Her pose grew more armchair utilizing as time went on.

"I read the book at Stan's and I can't imagine why the movie would be much different." Dipper said, looking the tape over. "And...dad said it was one of his favorite movies."

"Then shut up and put the movie in, ya big Dip!" Mabel cried, Her composure vanishing in what Dipper could have imagined to be a puff of smoke. "The popcorn's getting cold-"

"And I know how much you hate congealed butter on the kernels." Dipper sighed. In a single, smooth motion, the tape slid itself into the player, the sound of a whirring drive following him back to his most comfortable chair. He would have sat down had Mabel not have been smiling in it.

* * *

In my latent quest to edit previously posted chapters, this one received the most attention, as Mabel would be going to bed at like 5:30. It's not much, but it works for me.

A big thank you to Dip the Hashashin, her frequent comments are an enormous boost to my motivation.


	7. Chapter 7

The only look Dipper could have expected from Mabel was that of shock and/or horror.

He didn't get to see either, as she began the walk upstairs at around the halfway point. _Maybe it's for the best,_ Dipper thought, remembering what was to come. God only knows she couldn't handle the rats.

He walked upstairs an hour later with the look he expected from his sister, if only to a lesser degree.

There isn't much to say about the second morning but that it was quieter than the first. The alarm sounded (thankfully), waking the pair and spurring them on their way. Bagged lunches waited for them on the kitchen counter.

Butch smiled when Mabel walked in but did little to lighten her quickly darkening mood. The first stages of withdrawal were setting in, the shaking, the lack of focus, the aggravation.

Dipper absentmindedly took notes while the teacher babbled aimlessly about their easiest unit. Highlight this, highlight that, write this down, color that, wham bam, thank you ma'am, and there came the bell.

Then lunch hit. The pair met along the same hallway they had talked down on the first day, Mabel with a look of genuine anger and dipper with looks of boredom and sadness, mixed to be greater than the sum of the two looks.

"Still angry?" Dipper asked. She glared at him with her answer.

"Oh, what do you think?" Mabel said angrily, Arms crossed and sweater wrapped around the waist. She dripped sass.

"I think you need that camera back." Dipper said like it was something his sister didn't know.

"Well why not?" Mabel asked angrily. "Why wouldn't I want back the only useful gift from a family reunion three years ago?"

The pair were silent for a long while before Mabel, straining her neck and standing on tip-toes, spotted something deep into the crowd of tables.

"Wanna sit with a new friend?" She asked fro her heightened perch.

"Sure, why not." Dipper responded, Mabel taking his hand and leading him as best she could through a sea of squirming bodies and prying elbows.

"Hey!" "watch where you're going!" "Sorry." "'THE HELL ARE YOU" came to the pair in varying order, into which they sent, "sorry," "excuse me," "pardon," "coming through," also in varying order with a myriad of variations.

"You think they could do with a bigger cafeteria, though," Dipper said, squeezing his way through a pair of horrendously overstuffed backpacks.

"Yeah, sure." came her passing and almost inaudible response over the crowd. "Hey Butch!" she turned, looking at a strange, thick glassed boy who in turn stood his lighthouse of a frame up to greet her.

"Hey!" he replied, walking forwards for a strange hug that dipper inadvertently found himself a part of when Mabel failed to let go of his hand.

"So I take it you're Butch?" Dipper yelled through the crowd's volume.

"Yep. Come now, sit." Butch responded, pulling away and gesturing for the table of his origin before he himself returned. Mabel, Dipper close in tow, were not far behind.

It was a fine enough table with a mixed bag of people spilled from other tables, rejected as the outcast they looked to be. The pair were quick to sling backpacks off and sit down, or they at least tried to. It was largely unsuccessful when a small hooded kid let rip a hateful, gravelly scream upon dipper's action of sitting, swinging loose arms wildly until Dipper moved himself out of the way of the onslaught.

"What was that for!?" Dipper screamed, his face still behind his own shielding arm while he waited for a response. There stood Mabel behind him, hand subtly reaching for both her and Dipper's backpacks.

"You were in my bubble!" came his tearful reply, turning around and slouching lower into his tray before continuing with, "what the hell was I supposed to do!?"

"Look, I'm sorry!" Dipper screamed back through the slowly quieting crowd around him. "I didn't know."

There came no response from the hooded boy, still apparently fuming over Dippers 'transgression.'

"...A-are you okay?" Dipper asked, extending a hand to the hooded boy's shoulder. At the touch of a finger, the boy's entire body seemed to contract and swing into a fist headed directly for Dipper's_

"OWWWW!" Came Dipper's scream, clutching his nose and turning away into the very surprised figure of Mabel behind him. Her free arm wrapped around her brother's pained figure while her eyes darted between the shocked, heaving brother in her embrace and the fearful, heaving figure behind her brother.

"My gosh are you okay?" Mabel stumbled out at Dipper, dropping the bags momentarily to move his face up for inspection. "'Cause-'cause it really doesn't look like it." she was leading him away and out of the crowd with the arm she still had wrapped around her brother's shoulder. Forcing his eyes open and prying his hands from his nose, Dipper was surprised and horrified to find his hands, covered with thin blood spitting a weak river down his arm and down to the clean white tile below. It was all he could do not to vomit, clasping his eyes shut and hands back onto his nose.

"Oh, gosh..." was all he could get out, pinching the bridge of his nose while he put his other arm around Mabel. She could feel the unsure manner by which he placed his feet, the way his weight seemed to teeter with every step. This man wasn't okay.

"Come on. Let's find an empty table." Mabel said, scanning the small empty spaces left between innumerable square pillars at the outskirts of the lunch room. "Okay, not there. Not there. Maybe... no, definitely not." Mabel mumbled, doing her best to support her brother.

She saw it; a table with only one occupant and his bags doing something twitchy on a laptop, it was almost too good to be true.

"Oh thank god!" she exclaimed through a sigh of relief. "Just hang in there, Dip. We're almost there."

with a trail of this red splotches left in their wake, Mabel led her brother to that miracle of a table, tossing hers, and soon after Dipper's, backpacks onto the table. The clattering _thump_ that resounded was just enough to draw the lonesome kid's eyes up to a glance, firmly targeting them back onto the screen with a somewhat annoyed groan after less than a second.

"Seriously? You got nowhere better to sit?" he asked, tapping at the keyboard frantically. "like – anywhere else?"

"Not when the last place we tried to sit bought me a bloody nose." Dipper got out in a nasal voice, easing himself down onto a plastic stool opposite the kid. There sat Mabel next to him, her arm still wreathed across her brother's back with eyebrows arced in concern.

"Wait...what?" the keystrokes came to an abrupt halt as the kids eyes followed up to Dipper, the moment their eyes locked sparking a light of vague recollection.

"Hey, weren't you in my_" Dipper started, looking up only to be cut off by frantic key strokes and an aggravated, "Ah, Christ!" from who Dipper now realized to be Caesar.

"Sorry about that." Caesar continued, his eyes still scanning the screen with keystroke accompaniment. "Please, continue."

"Uhhh... yeah. You're Caesar, right? From my math class?" Dipper asked in split discomfort and confusion. There appeared Mabel beside Caesar, bent over his shoulder as best she could, watching with a steadily lowering jaw at whatever she saw on screen.

"Yeah, probably." Caesar answered, taking a rapid glance over his shoulder to see Mabel and a double take to affirm. "Do you mind?" he asked her.

"How can you tell whats even going on?!" she asked, taking a step back and straightening herself slightly.

"Oh Jesus Christ, **the lag isn't even that bad!** " he replied, aggressively twisting his body to reply.

"Actually, what are you doing over there?" Dipper asked, thrusting his bloody hands onto the table to push himself up.

"A game. What's it look like I'm doin'?" Caesar answered.

"You should see this." came Mabel's comment, looking up from the screen with eyes thankfully drained of grief.

"Gimme a second." Dipper confirmed, stepping uneasily over his chair and walking around for a view.

"Dude, dude. No." Caesar commanded, holding his hand up to stop dipper. "I'd prefer there be no blood on this thing for a little while."

"Why not? The red stuff's already everywhere!" Mabel punched in, gesturing towards the screen in a manner that only aggravated Dipper further. With a confused shrug, he sat down as near to Caesar as his defensive palm would let him.

A half minute had passed when Caesar violently slammed the table with one of his hands and, through a toothed exhale, folded his laptop and slipped it into his bag.

"...Huh." was all Mabel had to say, taking a seat between her brother and new potential dream. With a long exhale Caesar stretched back, hands on his face before tottering and snapping one of his hands out to the edge of the table and pulling himself back to a sit.

"So." he started, setting his tired eyes upon Dipper. "Apparently I know you."

"Yeah, I'm Dipper from your math class." He claimed, receiving a crooked, confused glare from Caesar.

"I sat right next to you_"

"I'm just gonna stop you right there." Caesar said, cutting off a rather surprised Dipper. "Like, seriously. You gave me no reason to remember you. Nobody remembers who played 'moody teen #06,'"

"oh. Moody teen #06." Dipper mumbled to himself, looking down at the table for a brief few seconds before snapping up and continuing with, "Well anyhow, I'm_"

"Dipper, yes. You told me already." Cut in Caesar, leaning forward onto the table with folded hands.

"So then what's her name?"

"I'm Mabel, and I've got_" started Mabel

"Maple? As in the tree?" Caesar again cut in, shaking his head and looking up into nowhere as he said, "What Parent names their child after a tree?"

"MABEL. M. A. B. E. L." she spelled out, not nearly as annoyed as she should have been. "And I was gonna ask you – why aren't you sitting with anyone?"

"Simple. I don't have anyone I can stand to sit with." answered Caesar, gesturing with one of his folded hands like it didn't matter one bit.

"Well why not?" Mabel followed up, rather confused. "everyone's gotta have someone_"

"Frankly, I find human relationships less than desirable." started Caesar. "it's like 'oh hey, we're a lot alike! Wanna hang out and do nothing?' 'okay!' - like, no. I don't see the purpose."

"you realize how little sense that makes, right?" Dipper asked, dabbling at his face with the corner of his sleeve.

"Yes. Anyhow!" he replied, clapping his hands together. Only then, with Mabel's attention drawn to them, did she notice the little brown splotches marring their surface. "seems like somethings_"

"What happened to your hands?" cut in Mabel.

"What are you...oh yeah!" Dipper said, squinting and looking where his sister did. In stark contrast to the pale, spidery hands Caesar beheld, there lay far too many brown splotches, uneven and asymmetrical. They were shallow pits in his hand, almost too shallow to tell.

"Tha-it's nothing." he responded, pulling his hands into his shirt sleeves and his arms further back from the table. With a drastic shift of expression he leaned forward and sarcastically asked, "Can I finish?"

"Oh. Yeah." Dipper responded giving Mabel a light bump with his knee. The grief had crept back into her, manifesting itself as a rapid, disturbed tapping of the fingers against the table.

"I was..." his eyes dropped and his face turned confused. "Oh god what was I gonna say?" the lull found itself filled by the sound of Mabel's tapping, pulling confusion into Caesars face. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

"I guess." she answered, unknowingly restrained with her eyes scanning the false wood table. "I'm…I'm just getting over something right now."

"A school official took her Camera earlier." Dipper answered, look from Mabel to Caesar. "Although it seems like the kind of thing she would_"

"THEY TOOK MY CAMERA!" Mabel cried, slamming the table in a sudden burst of rage. "THEY HAD NO RIGHT! NO RIGHT!"

"There it is." joked Dipper, scooting a seat over to avoid the onslaught.

"GOSH DARN IT WHY'S THIS ALWAYS GOTTA HAPPEN TO ME? WHY?" she continued, growing lightly red in the face.

"You know you're probably not going to get it back, right?" Caesar cut in, calm as ever.

"WH...what?" there she came falling from the steam cloud, breathing hard and fast with a spreading brow.

"What form'd they tell you to fill out? C13-A? H-14?"

"Y-yeah... I think so..." answered Mabel, a state of shock biting the anger, the sadness, everything from her eyes. It was all too easy to imagine the emotion draining from her with every inch she took towards sitting.


	8. Chapter 8

"For all intents and purposes, that form doesn't exist." Caesar said. "Well I mean, it's more that it may as well not."

"So it's...not coming back?" Mabel asked with an uncanny saturation of sadness

"Not legally, No." Caesar answered. "I've had a bunch a' shite stolen at this school and I got it ALL back."

"...Legally?" Dipper now, confused. "Like...Like breaking in?"

"If you lot have the stones, yes. But I'm not about to do it for you." Caesar clarified. "Oh, don't tell me you're afraid."

"No! absolutely not!" Mabel called in anger.

"We've broken into places before, but never a place like...like..."

"The school is a cakewalk, trust me." Caesar said, simultaneously reaching into his bag and pulling out a bagged sandwich. "Not a camera in sight and the only people who'll see us are janitors and this one 'Rotund' security guard."

"We're doing this? We're actually doing this?" Mabel started. The delight found it's way back into her face. "We're getting my camera back?!"

"SHH! not so loud!" Caesar said, looking over his shoulder to one of the many teachers standing strange guard around the lunchroom. "We'll be in touch on Friday. Details then. Otherwise-"

he was cut off by the sound of a fight somewhere near the core of the cafeteria, two girls whose argument had escalated to extreme and somewhat life-threatening heights.

"Now, we go." Caesar said, hefting his backpack up and motioning for the twins to follow him.


	9. Chapter 9

In time, Caesar rose from the table to pull the twins away, explaining to them that it wouldn't be a good idea to be seen watching when a moderating teacher arrived. He let go of the pair's wrists when they arrived at what was, for all intents and purposes, the nexus of the school's hallways. He left in what dipper thought was a random direction while Mabel examined a map, pointing proudly down one of the four halls.

Aside from Mabel practically (scratch that, WAS) vibrating in excitement, 5th hour was uneventful. Dipper's sister was in too high of a state to take notes, what boring information on early Mesopotamian Dipper figured she could copy off of him later that night. Her smile was genuine now.

"You weren't serious, were you?" Dipper whispered to Caesar in his next hour, the apathetic youth looking at him with equal question from his leaning chair.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Caesar whispered back, looking around for any sets of eyes that happened to be watching them and happily finding none. "I've had to take things back as well."

"Really?" Dipper said. Maybe it was imagination that made him hear Mabel say 'Skepticles!'

"Believe me. I need something as much as you do." He took a Polaroid out of the bag beside him and handed it to Dipper. "What once belonged to me was taken yesterday after it fell from an open pocket in my bag." he seemed embarrassed at his latest statement.

"You left a pocket open?" Dipper asked, a smug look scrawled across his face. "Now how did that happen-"

"You two." The veteran in his desk said, pointing an emaciated finger at them. "Shut up and sit correctly in your seats." something of an annoyed look spread on Caesars face as the chair squeaked beneath him.

"Call me tonight for more." He whispered to Dipper while the young, spry assistant resumed.

The rest of the day flew by.

"Sooo...what are your thoughts on Caesar?" Dipper asked. His sister was spinning behind him with glazed eyes, following closely to her brother on the walk home.

"That man is awesome!" Mabel replied. Good god her braces were vibrating.

"Is that just because he said he could break us in?" Dipper asked. He was walking backwards now, watching Mabel's upward stretched arms dance for the sky.

"Well that's one reason." Mabel said. Her spin slowed to a normal walk, her glinting eyes visible without rotation. The seeds of concern found their place in dippers mind.

"Yeah. Okay." Dipper said, spinning himself around with half closed eyes. "How much says no ones home?"

"First shower." Mabel said. She was beside Dipper now, walking casually but gripping her shoulder straps.

"You're on." Dipper said. Lo and behold,there stood their house and the moment of truth it unwillingly carried.

Tension spilled into the air with Dipper's sweaty brow, hand reaching for the doorknob. _Moment a' truth, boy_ he thought to himself. Behind him, Mabel bit her lip. A silent prayer was said to Tom Cruise.

The door flew open to reveal the twins' mother, hastily walking for wherever she worked.

"Mabel, make sure your brothers in bed at a reasonable hour." Their mother said to the twins without turning her head, the twins now lying in a small shrub after being swept aside by the door.

"Ay ay, cap'n!" Mabel replied, saluting the businesswoman from her place atop Dipper.

"Does that count?" Dipper questioned, eyes dancing for something to do. "Because she isn't technically in the house when we-"

"Dipper, what do you think?" Mabel asked, resting her head on her hand and elbow on Dipper's stomach. Dipper could smell the confidence leaking off of her.

"I think I'm takin' a cold shower in the morning." He said, shuffling upwards and sending Mabel sliding. "And I also think that 'reasonable hour' is an ill defined term." the pair looked at one another, unanimous on an unspoken decision.

"I call first player!" Mabel called out, running inside for the TV.

"I call second!" Dipper called out, running after his sister.

It was an old NES the pair had found in the attic, along with disks for _Contra_ , _Super Mario Bros_., and a couple of other miscellaneous titles. It was a wonder the thing still worked, but a wonder no one wanted to question.

* * *

I just spent the entirety of my study hall revising and re-uploading documents of my story because major edits needed to happen. I didn't want spelling mistakes to take away from my writing because I'd seen it happen before.

If I don't upload anything in the next couple of days, it's because I'm having too much fun cooping with this guy I met online in dark souls. 3 hours to connect and another 3 hours to get through the Funhouse. I loved every second of it.


	10. Chapter 10

It was 11:30 when Mabel, acting the "Responsible" twin, dragged Dipper away from the harsh glow of the TV screen upstairs to his bed. His hands maintained the movements to use a controller long after it was torn from his hands, his eyes barely aware of Mabel's writing before losing out function to the night.

Mabel's body maintained it's tremors of excitement for a short while before she herself drifted off to sleep. She needed her rest for tomorrow's activities.

It was mornings like these when Dipper questioned the alarm to ring at 5:30. He had a headache, his forearms hurt from white-knuckle clutch, and the light made him feel like an old-fashion vampire. Nevertheless, the morning called him, made him rub his eyes to try to exact some feeling other than ache, when Mabel hit snooze.

"I got first shower." Mabel said, sounding like what Dipper imagined he sounded like.

"'Kay." Dipper said through a strained grunt.

5 minutes later the alarm prodded him from sleep again.

"Why is it always you you you? Don't you every think about what I want?." Dipper said to the alarm, slamming down on it's sleep button. After many mornings of this, the sleep button knew pain more than most mortals.

In a few minutes, Dipper was eating a box of rice by the fridge in the manliest way possible; taking bites out of it's congealed takeout goodness. It made him forget about his exhaustion, at least until it got the point where he needed to dig out chunks from where his mouth couldn't reach. It was then, scooping rice out of an almost empty box with one of his fingers, that he noticed a glow from a painfully familiar room, a glow that drew his attention from the hollowed box. It fell over quietly in his leaving, Dipper quietly approaching the living room, looking forwards to the harsh glow of the TV set.

"The heck..." He said, amazed at the sight with a light mix of confusion. "why..."

"Whatcha doin'?" Mabel asked from behind her brother, eating old takeout just as Dipper had.

"Waaah!" He cried out, spinning and protecting himself with his arms and exclaiming, "Mabel!"

"Dipper!" She retorted, jumping back for effect.

"Mabel, what the H are you doing here?" Her brother asked, quickly composing himself and righting his hat. "I thought you were in the shower?"

"I was." she said through a mouthful of potentially suspicious brown rice. "But then I got done and needed to find you before we started planning for tonight so you wouldn't forget, and I couldn't find you anywhere upstairs so I assumed you were down here-"

"And now you're here." Dipper cut in, halting Mabel's mindlessly twirling spoon. "Handing out unwarranted surprises. Greeeaaat. I'm gonna take that cold shower now, if you don't mind."

"But you never answered my question!" Mabel asked softly, taking steps towards her brother as he took his onto the first step.

"About what?" Dipper asked, turning his body with foot firmly planted.

"What you were looking at." his sister asked, eyes in mild resemblance of a puppy's. "It seemed important."

"The TV was frozen." Dipper answered, one hand holding the banister and the other holding an invisible apple in front of him. "It's more interesting when you see it for yourself."

"Okay." Mabel said, turning to the other room. "I'll do that." Dipper was about to turn and walk when a thought popped into his head, one about Mabel's choice in garb.

"Oh hey Mabel?" he called back, twisting to his former position.

"Yeah?" she answered excitedly, moving out from around the dividing wall.

He hesitated for a second before responding with, "Could you get the towel to me in a few-"

"Sure." She answered removing it from around her and tossing him it from behind cover. Nevertheless, Dipper shielded his eyes with his arms as if 1000 suns shone from her, turning his head and squeezing his eyes shut for further protection. The towel hit and hung off of one of his extended arms. Thank god he didn't need to turn around.

"I meant...!" he cried out, not daring to move until he could again recollect himself. "I meant while I was in the shower. Not now."

"Ohhhhh..." she responded, "So...should I take it back? Give it to you then...?" the sound of a wet foot against hardwood informed Dipper of her movement towards him.

"No, just..." Dipper commanded, moving to charge at the stairs. His eyes, while still shut, relaxed from their protective position. "Put something on and be thankful my optic nerves know when to shut up." with his eyes shut he slammed his bare foot into the hardwood of the stairs and let a yelp escape his lips. It failed to stop his advance on the stairs and the allied bathroom.

Mabel simply shrugged and observed the TV in the other room. Frozen on the screen was a victory screen, left by someone other than her or her brother. It was, indeed, more interesting than being told.

* * *

I have no excuse for the exuberant delay between chapters, I was just lazy. And dealing with a bit of writers block. The former is unsolvable, the latter was alleviated by a sentimental album that I had always written to when I was younger, trying to write the novel that gets me a place on the map.

Two things: one): Major edits have been made to the previous chapters that I posted about in other edited chapters since then, and two): I wasn't trying to imply anything unwholesome with Mabel's scene, I was just trying to describe something of a lack of an understanding of social norms.

Thank you for reading, have a good day.


	11. Chapter 11

It wasn't the barely risen sun that disturbed dipper, eyes scanning the horizon under the brush of a moist towel. No, it was the darkening clouds which chose to obscure it further. The twins' walk – short as it may have been – the idea of a second cold shower really didn't appeal to him.

"Disco girl." He muttered thoughtlessly, picking up the thinning red shirt and pulling it onto partially dry skin.

"Huh" Dipper questioned, walking out of his and Mabel's room after yanking Wendy's hat and jacket from the bedside table and floor respectively. "Mabel? Mabel?" He called, pulling a jacket on while he searched for his recently missing sister. She wasn't downstairs, his search told him, though a wet print on the carpet sitting in front of the TV betrayed her presence. He was in the process of dashing upstairs for a double check, aggravated search mode engaged, when the sound of someone tapping on glass pulled him to a stop him. With as much disdain as he could muster, Dipper twisted his body to the sound.

There stood his sister with a broad smile, waving and jumping like an exited schoolgirl when Dipper's eyes found her. With an annoyed skyward glance he left his twisted stance for the door, watching his sister through the corner of his eye, her leaving the window for the door, and her greeting when the door soundlessly opened.

"Are we good to go?" Mabel asked through the bounce of haphazardly attached key chains.

"Yeah, sure." Dipper replied with annoyance and exhaustion badly hidden in his voice. His eyes drifted skyward with his steps onto the porch, pulling the door closed and seeing the worsened sky. "Let's just try to get there before the rain starts up."

"Well then come on!" She called, grabbing her brother's arm mid sprint and doing her best to drag him onto the sidewalk.

"W-w-wait! STOP!" Dipper called in the moments before he stumbled off of the patio step. There below his face met the concrete with a sound sickeningly close to if Dipper's sneakers had done the same. It was at that moment that every bouncing, clattering keychain lost it's attunement to Mabel.

"oh my gosh I'm so sorry." Mabel half screamed, dropping to one knee to try and help her brother. "Are you okay?"

"No, Mabel. I'm not." Dipper replied through a grunt, an uncontrolled edge pervading his voice. He reached up to grasp Mabel's outstretched hand and, none to gently, push himself up. There she kneel with a perfect view of the skinned cheek, bloody nose, and partially missing eyebrow that she herself had caused.

"I-I-I'm..." she stuttered out in sight of her actions consequence. She stumbled backwards at Dippers movements upwards, standing up and playing with her hands for something-anything to do.

"bBefore the rain starts." He said through buried anger, standing and swiftly walking for the main sidewalk. "Come on-"

There fell a raindrop, glistening like a tear upon his scraped cheek. With quickly fading disdain Dipper looked skyward, flopped his arms, and cried, "Really? REALLY!?" With what could have been exhaustion, Dipper stomped past his sister and back towards the door.

"Where are you-" Mabel started, taking short steps towards her brother.

"Back inside. I'm not dealing with rain right." He answered, his boy frozen with head turned to look at her. There dripped a furious red fluid from his cheek and nose, down onto the quickly moistening sidewalk where it splashed and spread.

"But...you're bleeding!" Mabel replied, walking quickly to put her hand on her brother's shoulder. "Is there-"

Dipper spun his head, took one the farthest hand from Mabel, and drug it up his face and carrying his blood with it. Up into his hair it went, pulling heir up into a greaser's fantasy and pushing Wendy's hat off of his head. In Mabel's moment of shock, Dipper took to the door passed through with a softened SLAM.

There lay the legacy of crushes past on the ground, plucked up by an almost shellshocked girl down familiar sidewalks and unfamiliar, unrefreshing rain.

* * *

I really don't know what to say. It's been what - three months and this is the note I come come back on?

Feel free to scream your questions, comments, concerns, and world crushing grievances at me.


	12. Chapter 12

Wendy's old hat weighed heavy in her hand as Mabel, letting her quick walk turn into a run for the suddenly incredible fall of rain. Or at least that's what she told herself. But after several minutes of running without sight of the school, her mind started to drift. _Why did you have to do it?_ She asked herself, looking down at the moistening sidewalk. _Why did you have to pull him? Why did you need to hurt him?_ Without knowing it, she started to run just a little bit faster.

It was the brick and mortar 'home' that loomed ahead of her, the collapsed pit that everyone told her was supposed to hold her future. Looking up from sprint and stare against the sidewalk now glinting in the rain, she saw it. She saw old friends she hadn't talked to in months and new ones she would remember for months. She saw her joy, trapped in a cardboard box somewhere by the will of a cruel teacher and the man who had promised to deliver her to it or it to her. She slowed in approach to it's doors, reaching out with one arm to pull a door open. It was in silence that she thanked what gods lay above for letting them be unlocked, walking inwards for whatever day lay in front of her.

At a table, not far from the center of the room, sat old friend talking and laughing amongst one another. _They wouldn't like this moping version_ , she thought, stopping and taking slow, deliberate breaths. _They don't have to – they don't NEED to see this._ And with smile on her face, fresh air drawn to her nose, she walked on.

It was with rage that Dipper slammed the door, but with regret that he slung his backpack onto the floor and walked from the door. _Why?_ He asked himself, slow to his movement from the door. _Why'd you have to lash out like that?_ The bathroom was his destination for it's assortment of first aid supplies and old pain medications, thought to be honest neither saw a great deal use.

"Alright. First thing on the list is to..." he started, slowing in his step as he entered the bathroom. "To... fix my hair. Jeez!" for the first time in a great while he saw the 'stellar' birth mark in all it's glory upon his forehead, spurring him into action to keep it at least beneath his hair. Oh yeah, and the... largish scrapes on his face. I guess those were a thing too...

"What the heck was I thinking!?" he asked once again, running his hair through with wet hands to cleanse the congealed blood from it. A thought struck him once again and pulled him to a halt, "Actually, what WAS I thinking?" his hard look into the mirror confirmed completion of the task at hand. With a deep breath he opened the cabinet, instinctively taking medical supplies, gathering himself a handful of bottles and loose hinged paper boxes. It was with a single hand that Dipper proceeded to close the cabinet, using the mirror for self inspection. It wasn't hard work, nor was it long for all the times Mabel, Stan, or he had to whenever any one of them get hurt. Mabel...

"Oh god what was I thinking..." he called to himself, desperately running to the front door, almost slamming himself into it when he slowed to open it. "MABEL!" he called instinctively, throwing it open only to find a barrier of cold rain and thunder beyond. With something halfway between noble desperation and stupidity he plunged himself into barrier, running faster than he had ever run over wet sidewalks and slipping mud.

* * *

No comment. The chapter didn't really go anywhere but then again it's gonna take me a while to get more out. So be happy.


	13. Chapter 13

/\/\ my struggle [kind of] /\/\/

{well this sucks. I've written myself into a corner} {shit}

|How so?|

{A scene of dipper running would be unenjoyable and little progress could be made, but i also feel that it cannot be done without}

|and why do you feel that is?|

{i just don't have the skill to write these characters accurately.}

|and you did before?|

{kind of... like, it was better than anything that i can come up with now.}

|you say that now, and yet you've edited far beyone the normal scope. i thought you hated editing?|

ON

|why don't you edit more? it could improve your story. isn't that what you want?|

{i've always had this thing where i dislike editing because it can alter the intent of a piece at the time of writing.}

|meaning?|

{well, let's say that i wrote an emotional piece following a breakup or something.}

|go on.|

{well, if i edit that passage when i'm in a different mood, i find flaws in the work that may well have been intentional based on the pieces emotion.}

|are you saying that you feel your flaws are bonuses to your writing?|

{i...i...i'm a narcisistic asshole, alright? i don't want to ruin the tone of a passage in a different emotional state when god only knows i'll shred it for everything it's worth thanks to a little desire to make it "better."}

|we're done.|

{agreed.}

\/\/\ done with that shit /\/\/

Slip through mud, not caring for the dirt on his pants. not caring for the sound of thunder, growing louder far above. a bolt of lightning could have struck dippers path, stood his hair on end, yet he couldn't care less. Dipper had sins to attone for, wrought by the blood washed from the front steps to his family home long since washed away. the school was in sight, his run was slowing.

Was it possible to drift while running? Either way, he managed it, sliding along smoothed concrete in an attempt to alter his direction at high speed.

Dipper crashed into the Lunchroom, face to face with a...mostly empty grand hall. Not including Mabel (there she was!), about 26 people turned to see the sopping wet, almost feral teenager in the doorway. we was breathing hard, rapid breaths as his heart attempted to catch up from the half block behind him.

"Mabel! MABEL!" Dipper called out, jogging the rest of the way from the still open doorway, quickly closed by tired teachers, to the main cluster of tables. She sat 1/2 way from the center, closest to the open door yet surrounded by chatting girls. Mabel... she seemed happy, but not the Mabel kind. more like the proverbial uncle Jim when someone decided to put decaf in the coffee machine but still had to behave for a wedding_

He knocked his foot into someone's backpack, absorbed in wandering thought.

"Could you not? i got a laptop in here!" The person called out.

"Sorry...?" Dipper started, turning around to apologies. Though he had a dark, plastic covered hood on, the face was undeniable; long features, thin cheekbones, eyes overhung by a pronounced brow casting a noticeable shadow over his eyes. It was Caesar.

"Where're you going-" Caesar started, cut off by Dipper's "Hang on a minute, something important to do."

"What, more important that ME?" Caesar called back with a mostly sarcastic tone.

A few more quick steps, around protruding circular seats and the like, Dipper found his way back to his sister.

"MABEL." He called out, crouching again while his heart caught up. "Mabel, I'm sorry. I should never have... should never have snapped at you... it was - it was-"

"It's fine, Dip. It's okay." She said. There was something off about her voice, something that the other girls didn't seem to hear. "Just forget about it. That's all."

"Mabel." Dipper said, standing up for once. His breathing was still deep, but it was quieter, he looked more composed." "I know... I'm... c'mon."

With a stunted scream from his sister Dipper pulled Mabel by the handle on her backpack up and out of her seat, dragging her along at first but eventually with the leg support of his sister.

"I told you, everything is fine." Her voice cracked in 'fine.'

At the outskirts of the table cluster, as far from prying eyes as he could manage, Dipper snapped Mabel into a hug. she was... rigid at first, confused, yet softened and wrapped her arms around dipper's back in response.

"I know everything's not fine." He said into her shoulder "I've seen you like this before, you're never fine. Especially not when you say you are."

"Dip it's... it's..." She got out, voice cracking. Her hands dug into dippers back as she said, "It's my fault!" and attempted to dig her face into Dipper's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"For what? Being a sister?" Dipper replied, lifting his head out of Mabel's shoulder. "It's been like this for what - 13 years now? I should be used to it!"

There, just beyond the table, the two cried into each others shoulders. They were a lopsided statue amid the gentle filtering of students in through the front gates.

To here i am after 6-odd months of doing jack diddly with a new chapter. that bit at the beginning was...a primer, I guess. Thank you for reading, please leave some feedback as I am a sad, sad human being who needs feedback and human connection to live properly.


	14. Chapter 14

"So...what's the plan now?" Dipper asked. They had since sat themselves down at the table Caesar had chose for himself, having pulled a laptop from his bag.

"Break into the school, I guess," Mabel responded. "Tonight...?"

"This evening, Saturday morning, the bridge between." Caesar, not looking up from the screen, responded with confidence.

"And how are we gonna deal with the cameras?"

"See, that's just the thing." Caesar said, shuffling in his seat and looking up. "A theft is only reported if noticed by a teacher, at which point the security tapes are reviewed. However, so seldom do things escape the Box that the chances of a report are slim to none."

"and there's no...security guard watching the camera's?" Dipper asked. It all seemed too simple.

"what are you, crazy?" Caesar asked Rhetorically. "the school's not gonna pay for a superfluous employee when they need brand new football uniforms. It'll be poultry."

"Promise?" Mabel asked.

"Well, yeah. Promise." Caesar responded

Mabel, smiling like she hadn't in two days, leaped across the table and practically through Caesar's laptop (closing it), tackling him to the ground in a flying hug.

"GOOD GOD!" Caesar got out, arms splayed out in confusion.

"Thank you Thank you Thank you!" was all Mabel could say. Dipper had since stood, leaning against the table to see what was going on.

"Was that..." started Caesar, only to be cut off by Dipper.

"For Mabel, yes it was." he said with a smirk.

In an almost pone position after Mabel had tackled him, Caesar lay on the ground with an expression of fear and confusion as Mabel clambered off of him, taking time again to smile at his prone figure before rising fully.

"Well that was...an experience." Caesar remarked sarcastically before retaking his seat, opening his laptop and typing away like nothing happened.

"Hey, when's the bell ring again?" dipper asked, ironically cut off by the resounding bell, signaling class' beginning.

"Right gosh darn now." Caesar said, in constant eye contact as he folded his laptop and replaced it into his bag before zooming off to god knows where.

Subtract an easy test, the day was uneventful up to Gym.

"MOVE IT MAGGOTS!" shouted their 300 pound coach, never told his glory days were over.

Dipper could feel his legs burning, his lungs bursting for release as the coach, close behind him, blew hard his whistle to spur dipper along.

His body left a tail of sweat like oil slick, trying desperately to clear the coach from his back.

Caesar passed, a confident gait that did little to hide the exhaustion crawling over his face. Mabel passed soon after, heaving in spite of her proudly-held smirk. Dipper could only glare as he felt the pressure to collapse.

The class had been running as such for the better part of the period while some of the presumed football stars chatted with their coaches far to the left, nearest the Locker Room doors.

After what felt like an eternity of burning lungs and jeering comments, the Coach sounded his whistle to the wheezing cheers of many students.

Nothing much else interesting happened on that day.

They were walking home from school with still a light drizzle softening the mud since shed across the sidewalk in artistic layers of silt, clay, and dirt. Somewhere in the distance, the deep diesel-engine sound of someone's refurbished German Panther resounded.

"Do you really think 45 minutes of continuous track was necessary?" Dipper asked, the rattle in his through still faintly sounding with every breath.

"pfft, no," Mabel answered. "but it was fun to watch Caesar in his gym shorts."

"Oh, don't tell me." Dipper said with a totally different kind of exhaustion than gym had left him with. "I thought you'd finished your boy crazy phase."

"Ohhhh no. Not even close." Mabel responded with a giggle. "It's only just gett'n started." she bopped Dipper on the nose before sprinting off towards their house.

"COME ON!" Dipper shouted. He felt betrayed more than anything. "You know what, fine." he said under his breath before breaking into a jog. The rattle in his through only grew with the mild exertion.

Mabel stood just outside the door with a smirk, resting her backpack against her knees as she held it by the handle.

"Oh...jeez. I... meant to bring that with me..." Dipper apologized, slowing to a halt in front of the step.

"Nah... it's fine." Mabel responded dismissively. "Now come on, we gotta prepare." she ran through the front door, still slightly ajar. Looking down, Dipper saw his open backpack, sitting just inside the door.

It was a test day, wasn't it... 90% of his classes and presumably Mabel's as well had had that focus... were they really that easy?

"Whatever..." Dipper mumbled.

"What did you mean by, 'Prepare-' OW!" Dipper exclaimed. He had been closing the door when something small and stinging struck the side of his head. He quickly looked up in search of it's source.

A rubber band, shot by Mabel, sitting like a frog atop the kitchen table far to their right of the door.

"What I meant by prepare," said Mabel, strafing off the table and around the nearest wall, "Was you gotta prepare for anything! Anything and everything!"

with a smile, Dipper picked up Mabel's discarded rubber band and strafed the stairs.

In that way it continued for around half an hour before Mabel, panting from the excitement, found herself collapsing on an old couch in the den. Mabel, not far, stood with his hands on his knees with a broad smile in spite of his heavy breathing.

"Alright, I... I think that's enough for today." Dipper said, sitting himself in the armchair nearest Mabel and grabbing the conveniently placed TV remote. Uncomfortably, Mabel squirmed in her seat. Something beneath her, hard and cold.

"What in... HEY DIPPER!" Mabel called in delight, producing a pair of phones from beneath her.

"Oh, no way!" Dipper exclaimed, standing and running to Mabel who had, at the revelation of their old phones, had sat up sharply. A post-it note, stuck to the bck of Mabel's phone, explained the situation;

Dear Dipper and Mabel;

Hey. It's your dad. Just checking in because I couldn't really do that before. So...your phones! I figured you'd want them back after 3 months of disconnection. I went ahead and charged them up...did all the updated...(y'all really need to change your passwords), and tried not to vomit at the sight of Mabel's search history...you know, the usual. (at this stage I'm confident of what I'll find in Dipper's search history and shudder to go through it). So, have fun, stay safe, Don't create or destroy human life, ect ect, you get the idea. I got a new job at Corona Conglomerate, so I'll be working later. See you guys soon.

Love, Dad.

"I don't think this day could get any better." Mabel said with Glee, already swiping through old-new messages.

Dipper jumped at the sudden vibrating of his phone, it momentarily leaping from his hands as before catching it and answering.

"Hel...hello?" Dipper greeted into the receiver.

"I'll be there at 11:15 to discuss the battle plan. In the meantime, I'll need you to pick up some things."

"Who is this?" Dipper asked, somewhat frightened. "And how did you get my number?"

"It's Caesar, of course." answered Caesar. "and I got your number from one of the girls you subjected to last years prolific 'stunt.'"

"You mean the time Dipper got so desperate that he wrote his number on the insides of girls' binders?" Mabel chimed in, evidently having been eavesdropping.

"Exactly. Now about the materials." Caesar continued. "I'll need three two-way radios, a spool of copper wire, an ounce of foam, a small electronics kit, and a soldering iron. And don't tell me you don't have them because I know your dad. He's got all kinds a' shit in that basement."

Dipper was silent a moment before responding with "Okay. Will...will do. 11:30?"

"11:15." Caesar corrected before hanging up.


	15. Chapter 15

"What took you so long?" Dipper asked jokingly, opening the door to a scowling Caesar in spite of Mabel eagerly bounding just behind Dipper's arm.

"There was a fight on the city bus I normally take. These two dudes tried to simultaneously pickpocket each other and … well … things just went downhill from there." Caesar walked though the doorway to a hounding Mabel.

"Sounds exciting!" Mabel eagerly said. "Tell us about it!"

"I'd rather not." Caesar replied, pushing Mabel away as he made his way to the living area. "Uh … Dipper … where's the stuff?"

"Next room. Follow me."Dipper answered, walking in front of Caesar around the kitchen and into the dining area where the large volume of electronic materials was laid out.

"This'll work." Caesar said, picking up and examining an old soldering iron. "everyone makes their own. Hope y'all know how to solder 'cause we don't have a lot of time." Caesar produced a sheet of paper from his coat (silk, crow-feather patterned, well worn) and flattened it on the table, revealing the extensive and admittedly simple plans for a two-way radio headset.

"Like this?" Mabel asked, soldering iron in one hand and a clean-ish circuit board in the other.

"Exactly." Caesar replied. "Now repeat the process here, here, and here.

"Just like arts & crafts…" Mabel said, almost mesmerized.

"Mabel. MABEL!" Dipper called, pulling her away from the board. "That's quite enough!"

"What? What happened?" Caesar asked, leaning over from his chair. "Oh. That…that should be fine."

it was a small mound of soldered metal, Rising from an isolated node on the board.

"Sorry." Mabel offered, sheepish smile on her face.

"Aaaand that should do it." Caesar said, putting the final curve in the copper wire that, upon donning, would curve over the wearer's head. "Here."

Caesar, stretching the sides of the overall headset, put the headset onto Mabel's head himself. Dipper watched with confused suspicion.

"How is it?" Caesar asked.

"It's … nice." Mabel responded, readjusting the radio side.

"That's all I need. URSA_" he spun oh his heels to face Dipper. "Put yours on."  
"…Ursa?" Dipper asked, swapping his headset with his hat before replacing the hat. He'd never heard that nickname before, not once.

"Dipper. The big Dipper on your forehead." Caesar started to Dipper's great dismay. He quickly checked his forehead and did his best to recover it with his hat. "It's a part of the Ursa Major constellation. _The Big Bear_. So I call you Ursa because I don't recognize the Big Dipper as a constellation.

"That's a new one, I have to admit." Dipper responded.

"Well...do you like it" Caesar asked. His expression could only be described as Rhetorical.

"Actually, yeah. I kinda do." Dipper answered. "Is everyone ready?"

"All set, captain!" Mabel said, saluting moving closer to Caesar.

"Onwards, then. Let's go." and with that, the triad was on their way, down the sidewalk and headed for the school.

* * *

At long last. Chapter 8 is replaced and a new chapter is up. I hope you lot enjoy.

Please leave a comment if you feel the need. Talk again soon.


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